The role of flow for mobile advergaming effectiveness
| Date | 11 November 2019 |
| Pages | 1228-1244 |
| Published date | 11 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-06-2018-0198 |
| Author | Sara Catalán,Eva Martínez,Elaine Wallace |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
The role of flow for mobile
advergaming effectiveness
Sara Catalán and Eva Martínez
Dirección de Marketing e Investigación de Mercados,
Facultad de Economia y Empresa,
Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain, and
Elaine Wallace
Department of Marketing, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Abstract
Purpose –Based on flow theory, the purpose of this paper is to explain why the use of mobile advergames
can enhance players’brand perceptions and purchase intentions, as well as the factors that affect players’
flow experience.
Design/methodology/approach –Data from 212 participants who played a mobile advergame was
analysed. Structural equation modelling with PLS was used to test the research model.
Findings –The results reveal that challenge, interactivity, focused attention and telepresence significantly
influence the flow experience while playing mobile advergames. Results also show that the greater the flow,
the more positive the attitude towards the featured brand and the greater the purchase intention.
Practical implications –The findings of this study are important for advertising practitioners and
advergames developers as understanding the key game features that promote flow is crucial to designing
engaging mobile advergames that persuade players most.
Originality/value –This study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it provides new insights into
the effectiveness of mobile advergames, which is an under-researched area. Second, it offers a conceptual
framework based on flow theory for understanding why the use of mobile advergames can enhance players’
brand perceptions and purchase intentions.
Keywords Flow, Mobile devices, Brand attitude, Advergaming, Advergames
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Advergames are one of the newest tools through which advertisers are creating entertaining
experiences to engage young adults (Cicchirillo and Mabry, 2016). While different forms of
advertising, such as TV ads or banners, can be easily skipped or quickly forgotten,
advergames can create hours of engagement. Defined as electronic games designed with the
specific purpose of promoting a brand or product (Winkler and Buckner, 2006), advergames
represent an effort to make the game itself the brand message by embedding brand-specific
information into features central to the game play (Kinard and Hartman, 2013). The rapid
growth of interest in advergames indicates that marketers acknowledge their potential
benefits for marketing (Lee and Cho, 2017), such as building brand awareness, offering
product information or persuading the consumer to form a positive attitude towards the
brand or product promoted (Terlutter and Capella, 2013).
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 7, 2019
pp. 1228-1244
Emerald Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-06-2018-0198
Received 20 June 2018
Revised 2 January 2019
14 May 2019
Accepted 10 July 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
© Sara Catalán, Eva Martínez and Elaine Wallace. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This
article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may
reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and
non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full
terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
This study was supported by the Government of Spain and the European Regional Development
Fund (Project Nos ECO2013-41257-P and ECO2017-82103-P), the Government of Aragón (GENERES
Group S-54_17R) co-financed by FEDER 2014-2020 “Building Europe from Aragón”, and by the
Government of Aragón and the European Social Fund (Pre-doctoral Grant No. BOA 28/08/2014).
1228
OIR
43,7
In recent years, mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), whose use is becoming almost
compulsive among many people (Hsiao, 2017), have also become an increasingly popular way
to access advergames (Tuten and Ashley, 2016). Smartphones reach 18-to 34-year-olds more
than any other device (Google, 2014). Thus, mobile devices are a small but powerful screen
when it comes to gain Millennials’attention, having the potential to create big impact. In
addition, as mobile devices are usually carried everywhere, they can be accessed by players in
situations where they cannot access other devices, such as consoles or computers. To take
advantage of this opportunity, marketers are creating mobile advergames to capture players’
full attention anytime and anywhere. Recently, Çardici and Gu ngor (2018) suggested that
onlineand mobile advergamesmight influencebrand-relatedoutcomes differently as theyhave
different characteristics. However, past research has focused primarily on online advergames
(e.g. Gross, 2010; Ham et al., 2016; Steffen et al., 2013; Vashist and Royne, 2016; Wang et al.,
2015), and little attention has been paid to mobile advergames. As such, mobile gaming
platforms are an especially under-researched area in this field (Terlutter and Capella, 2013), and
therefore, more investigation examining advergames within mobile phone apps have been
required (Çardici and Gungor, 2018; Kinard and Hartman, 2013).
Nowadays, with thousands of games availablefordownloadintheAppStore,creatinga
successful mobile advergame is a challenge. Previous studies have shown that games are most
successful and engaging when they facilitate the flow experience (Kiili, 2005). Hence, flow theory
is a particularly suitable framework for the study of mobile advergames. The flow experience
refers to an optimal experience in which individuals are highly involved in a certain activity
which is perceived as very pleasurable (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). This optimal experience can
lead to positive outcomes (Csikszentmihalyi and LeFevre, 1989). However, despite the relevance
of flow theory to mobile advergaming, compared with other types of flow-inducing media
experiences, few research studies on mobile advergames have been built on this theory.
In this context, itis worthwhile to analyse whether players experience flow while they are
playing a mobile advergame, and if such flow state influences brand-related persuasion
outcomes. In addition,it is critical to understand which elementscan promote flow within this
context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is twofold. First, based on the model of online
flow proposed by Novak et al. (2000), we examine the influence of f ive flow antecedent s –
namely, skills, challenge, interactivity, focused attention and telepresence –on players’flow
experience while playing a mobile advergame. Second, we investigate the impact of flow on
players’attitude toward the brand promoted and purchase intention of their products.
This study contributes to the extant literature in several ways. First, although mobile
devices (smartphones and tablets) are a growing way to access advergames (Tuten and
Ashley, 2016), they are an under-researched area in this field (Çardici and Gungor, 2018; Kinard
and Hartman, 2013; Terlutter and Capella, 2013).Therefore, our empirical findings providenew
insights into the effectiveness of mobile advergames. Second, although previous studies have
emphasisedthe importanceof experiencing flowin gaming contexts(e.g. Badrinarayananet al.,
2015; Procci et al.,2012;Suet al., 2016), there is a shortage of studies ex amining the impact of
flow on the persuasive power of mobile advergames. Therefore, by drawing on online flow
theory proposed by Novak et al. (2000), we offer a conceptual framework for understanding
why the use of mobile advergames can enhance players’brand perceptions and purchase
intentions. In addition, despite the call of Terlutter and Capella (2013) to deep into the role of the
five antecedents of flow within an advergaming context, there is a lack of studies analysing
the impact of all flow prerequisites on the flow experience within this context. Therefore, the
current research sheds new light on the impact of flow antecedents of the flow experience in the
mobile advergaming context. Finally, contrary to previous studies that used fictitious brands
(e.g. Ham et al., 2016) or invented games (e.g. Wang et al., 2015) to analyse flow in advergames,
this study usesa real mobile advergame created by a real brand to analyse the impact of flow
on players’brand attitude and purchase intentions on a real market situation.
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